Excavators



April 28, 1964 A. J. KELLY 3,130,843

Exmvmos Filed May .23, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 28, 1964 A. J. KELLY 3,130,343

ExcAvAToRs Filed May 23, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 28, 1964 A. J. KELLY 3,130,843

EXCAVATORS Filed May 23, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 LEK- 5;!5 KELLV Y mfm United States Patent 3,130,843 EXCVALTORS Alec J. Kelly, Uttoxeter, England, assignor to J. C. Bamford (Excavators) Limited, Uttoxeter, England, ak British company Filed May 23, 1962, Ser. No. 196,930 2 Claims. (Cl. 2174-145) This invention relates to mechanical excavators of the ltype in which a tool Varm is mounted to pivot about a horizontal axis and on its outer end is pivotally connected a bucket which can also pivot about la horizontal axis, -there being mounted upon the tool arm, a hydraulically operated ram which is connected pivotally tothe bucket to cause pivotal movement thereof relatively to the tool arm.

Such mechanical excavators are generally mounted upon the front or rear of ya tractor for operation from the tractor and the tool arm is Igenerally carried at the end of a boom which can be raised and lowered and which can also be swung from side-tonde.

There 'are two classes of excavating buckets in use at present and in referring to these, the references to the forward direction means the direction away from the tractor `and the rearward direction means the direct-ion towards the tractor. The two `classes of buckets comprise on the one hand, a digging bucket in which the open mouth faces in the rearward direction 'and is generally used for trenching with a scooping action and a face bucket in which .the open mouth faces in the forward direction and, as its name applies, operates upon the face of the excavation or upon a pile of material.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of bucket which can be used as a digging bucket or as a face bucket.

According to the present invention I provide an excavating bucket yfor the purpose specified, such bucket having spaced side walls and atop wall extending between the upper edges of the side walls, the top wall having mounted therein intermediate its front and rear ends, a pivotal mounting `for connection to the operating ram tand two alternative pivotal mountings for the end of the tool arm, `one being at or near the Ifront end and the other being at or near :the rear end of the top wall.

With this arrangement, the bucket .can be made to `operate `as a face bucket or as a digging bucket depending upon which of the two -alternative pivotal mountings is selected for connecting the bucket to the end of the tool arm as it will be appreciated .that with one mounting in use, the bucket will have its open mouth facing forwardly and with the other mounting in use the open mouth of the bucket will be facing rearwardly whilst in both cases, the pivotal connection between the hydraulic ram and the bucket remains the same. Therefore, by means of a simple change-over operation, the bucket can be converted from use as =a digging bucket to use as a face bucket and vice versa.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the :accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is ia plan View,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation.

FIGURE 3 is an end view looking from the right in FIGURE l.

FIGURES 4 and 5 sho-w the two alternative positions of the bucket as mounted on the tool arm of an excav-ator.

The dual purpose bucket shown in the drawings has its main body formed to generally known coniigu-ration having spaced side walls and a base 1'1 which consists of three integral sections of wall connected together at obtuse angles, the end of the base at the open mouth ICC of the bucket being provided with the usual yform of toe plate 12. v

The top wall 13 of the bucket has welded thereto, two main longitudinal webs 1'4 extending in spaced parallel relationship from frontto rear of the top4 wall over the central regionY thereof and at trout `and rear' there are .transversely extending box section members 15v and 16 welded' to the top'wall 13` and to the side walls 10.

At approximately the centre point of each longitudinal web 14, there Vis txed on the inner face of the web, a collar 17 which constitutes one side ofthe pivotal mounting for the connection 21 between the bucket and the end of the piston rod 22 extending from the hydraulic ram 2.3 which is mounted on the tool larrn Z4 for the purpose of operating the bucket so that when the bucket is connected in position, this connection 21 :from the end of the piston yrod goes between the two collars 17 which are secured to the two main longitudinal webs 1'4 and is connected thereto by a suitable pivot pin.

The pivotal connection for the tool arm at each end of the top wall 13 is of substantially the same fonm at each edge and therefore like reference numerals are used to describe these hereinafter.

Near its end, each main longitudinal web 14 has mounted therein, a sleeve member 18 which extends outwardly at r-ight angles to the plane of the web, the outer end of the sleeve 18 being mounted in a short upright web `19 secured to the top wall `13 of the bucket with its end remote from the adjacent end of the top wall being secured to a further web 20-y which extends from the main longitudinal web 14 )and terminates just short of the adjacent side wa-ll 10.

The aforesaid sleeve 18 consti-tutes one side of the pivotal mounting for the end of lthe tool arm and a simil-ar sleeve 18 extends from the other main longitudinal web 14 and is similarly supported by further webs 19 `and 20 thereby constituting the other half of the pivotal connection.

When fthe bucket is mounted in position, the end of the tool farm is located between the inner ends of the two sleeve 18 and is pivotally secured by means of a suitable pivot pin passing through the two sleeves and the end of the tool arm; depending upon the use to which the bucket is to be put, this connection is made to the pair of sleeves 18 at the front or the pair of sleeves at the rear.

The alternative positions of the bucket )are illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5.

What I claim is:

1. A reversible excavating bucket for la mechanical excavator of the type speciiied comprising spaced side walls, a top wall extending between the upper edges of Ithe side walls, a pair of spaced apart upright main webs extending longitudinal-ly over fthe intermediate region of the top walfl from end-to-end thereof, fan inwardly projecting collar secured to the inner face of each main web at the centre portion thereof so as to have :said colla-rs in axial alignment, two sleeve members mounted in each main web, one at each end thereof, each sleeve member being secured at its one end in the associa-ted main web and extending outwardly from the main web so as to have the two sleeve members `at each pair of ends of the main webs in axial alignment, further upright webs secured to the top wall and the outer ends of said sleeve members being secured in said further upright webs.

2. A reversible excavating bucket for la mechanical excavator of the type specified comprising spaced side walls, fa 4top wall extending between the upper edges of the side walls, a pair of spaced apart upright main webs extending longitudinally over the intermediate region of the top wall from end-to-end thereof, an inwardly projeoting collar secured to the inner face of each main web at the centre portion thereof so `as to have said collars in axial alignment, two sleeve members mounted in each main web, one `at each end thereof, each sleeve member being secured 4at its one `end in the associated main'web and extending outwardly from the main web so as to have the two sleeve members at each pair of ends of the main Webs in axial alignment, an upright web secured to the top Wall adjacent each end of each main web `and in spaced parallel relationship to the adjacent main web `on the outer side thereof, a transverse web secured to each such upright web `and secured to the adjacent main 4 web and the outer end of each sleeve member being secured in its associated one of said upright webs.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ;1,479,340 Trainor Jan. l, 1924 1,479,849 Williams Ian. 8, 1924 3,032,900 Kashergen May 8, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,157,133 France Dec. 23, 1957 

1. A REVERSIBLE EXCAVATING BUCKET FOR A MECHANICAL EXCAVATOR OF THE TYPE SPECIFIED COMPRISING SPACED SIDE WALLS, A TOP WALL EXTENDING BETWEEN THE UPPER EDGES OF THE SIDE WALLS, A PAIR OF SPACED APART UPRIGHT MAIN WEBS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OVER THE INTERMEDIATE REGION OF THE TOP WALL FROM END-TO-END THEREOF, AN INWARDLY PROJECTING COLLAR SECURED TO THE INNER FACE OF EACH MAIN WEB AT THE CENTRE PORTION THEREOF SO AS TO HAVE SAID COLLARS IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT, TWO SLEEVE MEMBERS MOUNTED IN EACH MAIN WEB, ONE AT EACH END THEREOF, EACH SLEEVE MEMBER BEING SECURED AT ITS ONE END IN THE ASSOCIATED MAIN WEB AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM THE MAIN WEB SO AS TO HAVE THE TWO SLEEVE MEMBERS AT EACH PAIR OF ENDS OF THE MAIN WEBS IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT, FURTHER UPRIGHT WEBS SECURED TO THE TOP WALL AND THE OUTER ENDS OF SAID SLEEVE MEMBERS BEING SECURED IN SAID FURTHER UPRIGHT WEBS. 